BOSTON—They were on the ropes, facing their biggest rival in a game that would mean history with a win.

Down by as many as 17 points in the first half at TD Garden, and with Celtics forward Jeff Green (43 points) having a career night, the Miami Heat were able to steadily wear down a surprisingly energetic Boston team and pull out their 23rd straight win, 105-103. The victory establishes a new No. 2 on the NBA's all-time list of win streaks, now just 10 behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers’ 33-game winning run.

Boston was already without injured starters Jared Sullinger and point guard Rajon Rondo, but it entered the game also missing noted Heat-killer Kevin Garnett, who was out with an illness. The Celtics were still able to grab early momentum, using a 17-0 run to end the first quarter to help build a 41-24 lead early in the second. Lacking Garnett and with a thin bench, they weren’t able to hold it.

Having withstood the brunt of the Celtics’ early onslaught, the Heat bounced back in the second half. Miami opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to take the lead for the first time since 3:53 remained in the first quarter. Then, in the fourth, the Celtics recaptured control, building a 13-point lead with 8:27 to play. Again the Heat rolled back into the lead by pounding the Celtics inside and finally getting a 3-pointer from Mario Chalmers with 2:40 to play.

Miami needed a layup from James to tie the game at 103, and took the lead on an 18-footer from James just beyond the right elbow with 10.5 seconds to play. Paul Pierce missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer from the corner with three seconds to play.

James finished with 37 points, two coming on a memorable fast-break dunk over a perfectly helpless Jason Terry, and 12 assists. Chalmers had 21 points, and Wade had 16.

The Heat will go for their 24th straight win on Wednesday in Cleveland. Miami has two wins over the Cavaliers this year, but they came by a combined six points. The Cavs, though, will be without star guard Kyrie Irving (knee injury).

After seeing the dunk, the question on the minds of many was whether it was better than the dunk by Clippers center DeAndre Jordan over Pistons guard Brandon Knight.